Stranded NASA astronauts, including Sunita Williams, to return to earth tomorrow | Technology News
NASA has announced that the SpaceX Crew-9 mission will return to Earth on Tuesday, 18 March, bringing home four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and Nick Hague, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Wilmore and Williams have been stranded on the ISS for more than nine months after their original return vehicle, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, was deemed unsafe due to propulsion issues. Their return marks the end of an unexpectedly long stay, originally planned as a short mission.
“The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favourable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” NASA said in a statement.
NASA and SpaceX mission managers assessed weather conditions on Sunday and decided to bring the crew back a day earlier than initially planned.
The astronauts’ return was initially planned for Wednesday, but NASA moved it up to Tuesday at 5.57 pm (2157 GMT) to avoid unfavorable weather conditions. This will mark the end of a prolonged stay for Wilmore and Williams, who were originally supposed to be on a days-long roundtrip but ended up staying for nine months due to propulsion issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft .
NASA will provide live coverage of the Crew-9 return on NASA+ starting March 17. Coverage includes hatch closing, undocking, and splashdown, with a media briefing at 7.30 pm ET. Journalists can register by 5 pm ET on March 17 to participate.
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